FreedomWorks - Farm billhttp://www.freedomworks.org/fieldtags/farm-bill
enUSDA Spends $19.9M on One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish...Catfish? http://www.freedomworks.org/content/usda-spends-199m-one-fish-two-fish-red-fishcatfish
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/large/s3/field/image/USDA-catfish-inspection-regulation-Resized.png?itok=NsaRuX78"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/large/s3/field/image/USDA-catfish-inspection-regulation-Resized.png?itok=NsaRuX78" width="480" height="209" alt="The USDA inspects catfish while the FDA inspects all of the other fish. " /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The Senate recently passed legislation that would result in a minor victory against the regulatory state and for the legislative branch reclaiming its powers. The measure is now pending in the House, where Republican leadership should bring the measure up for a vote. What is the target of this unnecessary regulation? Catfish. Yes, catfish.</p>
<p>The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in charge of regulating the safety of the food we consume, including the many species of fish Americans enjoy eating. But there is one exception: as a result of the 2008 federal Farm Bill, catfish production is also regulated by the United States Agriculture Department (USDA). What explains this strange exception? Certainly not safety, as the USDA itself notes that catfish is a "low risk-food,” and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) <a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/590777.pdf">estimates</a> that getting rid of this regulatory anomaly would “save taxpayers millions of dollars annually without affecting the safety of catfish intended for human consumption.”</p>
<p>The USDA spent $19.9 million just to develop its unnecessary catfish inspection program and estimates the annual cost of running the program to be $14.4 million (the actual cost will be considerably higher if similar regulatory programs are any guide). Compare that to the GAO's <a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/590777.pdf">estimated cost</a> of “less than $700,000 annually" for the FDA to inspect catfish.</p>
<p>The USDA's catfish inspection program might be worth its high cost if it was substantially improving the inspection process. Instead, the GAO found that the USDA program is "an inefficient use of taxpayer funds and a duplication of activities because facilities that process both catfish and other seafood would be inspected by both USDA and FDA." Worse yet, the program actually endangers food safety because, <a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/590777.pdf">according</a> to the GAO, it "further fragments the federal oversight system for food safety without demonstrating that there is a problem with catfish or a need for a new federal program.” In all, the nonsensical bureaucracy created by the USDA catfish program has been called out by the GAO a record eleven times.</p>
<p>When the government behaves in seemingly irrational ways, as here, there are always politics involved. The transfer of catfish regulatory authority to the USDA is no exception. In a classic case of crony capitalism, the American catfish industry suddenly began to "worry" that the FDA was incapable of ensuring catfish safety when it realized that inspection by the USDA would impose high compliance costs on foreign (primarily Vietnamese) catfish exporters, effectively pricing them out of the American market. Big Catfish began to lobby Congress and the transfer of authority was added to the Farm Bill.</p>
<p>The good news is that the Senate recently voted, under the procedures of the Congressional Review Act, to revoke the USDA regulations implementing the catfish program, after FreedomWorks issued a <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/content/key-vote-yes-sj-res-28-reduce-government-waste">Key Vote Alert</a>. Sadly, establishment Republicans in the Senate like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) couldn’t even vote for the bill which conservatives in the Senate supported. Now, FreedomWorks and other organizations representing millions of Americans are <a href="http://www.ntu.org/governmentbytes/detail/coalition-urges-house-to-take-action-against-wasteful-catfish-program">urging the House</a> to take up this bill and pass it.</p>
<p>As nonsensical as the USDA's catfish program is, it is but one of a myriad of inefficient and duplicative federal regulatory schemes that serve, at best, very narrow interests while costing taxpayers millions of dollars and often reducing safety for consumers. House members should be <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/content/congress-intensifies-battle-against-regulators-new-rules-grab-legislative-power">reminded</a> that revoking these destructive rules is precisely what the Congressional Review Act was designed to do.</p>
</div></div></div>Thu, 09 Jun 2016 15:30:00 +0000Ashley Nicole Baker62621 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/usda-spends-199m-one-fish-two-fish-red-fishcatfish#commentsHere's why the already bloated Farm Bill is getting more expensivehttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/heres-why-already-bloated-farm-bill-getting-more-expensive
<div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/large/s3/field/image/farm-subsidies.jpg?itok=BkjcfaW0"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/large/s3/field/image/farm-subsidies.jpg?itok=BkjcfaW0" width="480" height="281" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>When the House of Representatives passed the farm bill earlier this year, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) hailed it as a accomplishment because, <a href="http://www.speaker.gov/press-release/speaker-boehner-passage-farm-bill">he said</a>, it "maintains critical assistance for families in need and improves programs for producers while cutting the cost of government."</p>
<p>Uh, no, Mr. Speaker, the farm bill didn't cut the cost of government. First, the Cato Institute's Chris Edwards <a href="http://www.cato.org/blog/farm-bill-spending-49-percent">pointed out</a> around the same time the bill passed Congress that "the 2014 farm bill is not a cut at all when compared to the 2008 farm bill, which was projected to cost $640 billion over 10 years." Only in Washington can a 49 percent spending increase mean Congress is spending less.</p>
<p>Secondly, the $956 billion price tag for the farm bill is only going to grow. Congress <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/content/shallow-loss-another-entitlement-program">wasn't living in reality</a> when it created the shallow-loss crop insurance program, an <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/content/taxpayers-lose-shallow-loss-entitlement">uncapped entitlement that replaced direct subsidies</a>. And, as a result of larger than expected crop yields that have driven down market prices, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-20/farmers-may-reap-subsidy-boom-on-record-crops.html">taxpayers are going to be hit with the costs</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A record U.S. harvest has pushed crop prices so low that taxpayers may pay billions of dollars more to subsidize farmers than anticipated just months ago, thanks in part to changes Congress approved this year.</p>
<p>Lawmakers passed a five-year farm law in February and hailed its projected savings in subsidies of $14 billion over a decade. The forecast was based on farmers getting paid more for their crops. Instead, prices have fallen and may trigger subsidies the law aimed to reduce....</p>
<p>Payments to growers of corn, peanuts and other crops may reach $6.5 billion for this year’s harvest, or about $4 billion more than lawmakers anticipated in the farm bill, said Vincent Smith, director of the Agricultural Marketing Policy Center at Montana State University.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And keep in mind that these subsidies are going to <a href="http://www.aei-ideas.org/2014/02/harvesting-cash-from-taxpayers-1t-farm-bill-will-deliver-pork-to-millionaire-farmers-1b-per-page-over-10-years/">mostly wealthy farmers and the largest farms</a>. Oh, and while direct payments had to be renewed every five years under previous iterations of the farm bill, the version passed by Congress earlier this year <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/business/richer-farmers-bigger-subsidies.html?pagewanted=all">makes this brand of corporate welfare permanent</a>. The shallow-loss program isn't a safety-net for the agricultural industry, it's a decked out, gold-plated hot tub.</p>
<p>H/T: <a href="http://thefederalist.com/2014/10/23/shock-farm-bill-boondoggle-already-bigger-than-politicians-media-promised/">Scott Lincicome</a></p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 24 Oct 2014 15:13:35 +0000jpye60760 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/heres-why-already-bloated-farm-bill-getting-more-expensive#commentsTop Ten Reasons to Support Igor Birman for U.S. Congress in CA-7http://www.freedomworks.org/content/top-ten-reasons-support-igor-birman-us-congress-ca-7
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><ol><li><p>Igor Birman opposes ObamaCare, comparing it to the socialist health system in the USSR
where he was born.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman opposes the Farm Bill and points out the cronyism therein.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman opposes the NDAA indefinite detention provisions, comparing them to
Soviet detention squads.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman favors tort reform and deregulation of insurance to promote competition.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman supports comprehensive tax reform and lower tax rates.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman will insist that regulations be approved by Congress instead of enacted by
unaccountable czars.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman believes that the national debt is the greatest threat to our national
security.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman opposed the 2014 Omnibus spending bill.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman applauded Rand Paul’s filibuster and said the tactics used in the War on
Terror are reminiscent of the Soviet Union.</p></li>
<li><p>Igor Birman said the 2014 Ryan budget was “on the right track” because it balances in 10
years.</p></li>
</ol></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tag/igor-birman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Igor Birman</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tag/birman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Birman</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/california" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">California</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tag/ca" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">CA</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tag/ca7" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">#CA7</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tag/ca07" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">#CA07</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tag/california-gop" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">California GOP</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/gop" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">GOP</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tag/primary" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">primary</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/obamacare" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ObamaCare</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/tag/ussr" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">USSR</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/tag/soviet-union" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Soviet Union</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/russia" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Russia</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/farm-bill" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Farm bill</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/ndaa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">NDAA</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/taxes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Taxes</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/tort-reform" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tort Reform</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/regulation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">regulation</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/deregulation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">deregulation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/rand-paul" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Rand Paul</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/filibuster" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">filibuster</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/fieldtags/ryan-budget" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ryan budget</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/fieldtags/balanced-budget" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">balanced budget</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-publication-name field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Publication Name:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/publication-name/freedomworks-america" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">FreedomWorks For America</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-source-url field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">http://freedomworksforamerica.org/sites/default/files/candidates/Top_Ten_-_Igor_Birman_CA-7.pdf</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-publication-date field-type-date field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Date Published:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-05-29T00:00:00-04:00">Thursday, May 29, 2014</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-action-switch field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Enable Call to Action on frontpage:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Images:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/field/image/birman_0.JPG" width="457" height="477" alt="" /></div></div></div>Thu, 29 May 2014 18:18:41 +0000logan.albright59881 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/top-ten-reasons-support-igor-birman-us-congress-ca-7#commentsBoehner's and Reid's Farm Bill Fraud on Americahttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/boehners-and-reids-farm-bill-fraud-america
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><strong><a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/democracy-and-power-110" target="_blank">Democracy and Power 110: Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker of the House</a></strong><p>The first vote in a legislative session is the most important. The Senate and the House of Representatives vote for their respective leaders. The leadership positions are consistently decided by which party has the majority.</p><p>Why are the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate so important? They appoint the committees. Making sure they have the majority in all the committees, they appoint their loyal party members. Then, the majority party controls legislation.</p><strong>Boehner's and Reid's Farm Bill Fraud on America</strong><p>Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) politely explained the collusion between rural Republicans and big-city Democrats that resulted in the $1 trillion (over ten years) Farm Bill.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is a $1 trillion tax on all Americans, especially our children.&nbsp;&nbsp;Lee referred to the bill as a:&nbsp;&nbsp;“Beltway marriage of convenience between welfare and corporate welfare.”</p><p>&nbsp;Instead of debating and voting for or against food stamps and farm insurance separately, this “marriage”&nbsp;&nbsp;traded $800 billion of food stamps for $200 billion of farm insurance.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is devious and deceptive and is commonly referred to as “logrolling” by America's political elites.</p><p>Much more devious was how Speaker of the House Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) forced rural and conservative Republicans to participate in the deception.&nbsp;&nbsp;Outraged, Lee called this manipulation a “bullying, disenfranchising shake-down of the American west.”</p><p>The Federal government owns enormous amounts of land in western America and does not pay any local property tax.&nbsp;&nbsp;Thus, the Federal government created the PILT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) which sends money to local governments.&nbsp;&nbsp;Lee explains:</p><p>“Under PILT, Congress sends a few cents on the dollar out west every year to make up for lost property taxes. There is no guaranteed amount. Washington just sends what it feels like.”</p><p>&nbsp;This year the PILT was part of the omnibus spending bill – orchestrated by Senator Murray (D-WA) and Representative Ryan (R-WI) – which passed in January.&nbsp;&nbsp;Except the PILT was removed from the omnibus bill just before the vote and subsequently made part of the Farm Bill.&nbsp;</p><p>Apparently, Senator Reid and Speaker Boehner realized they had enough votes for the omnibus spending bill without the PILT.&nbsp;&nbsp;To please lobbyists for the sugar industry, welfare, crop insurance, and many more special interest groups, Reid and Boehner desperately wanted to pass the Farm Bill.&nbsp;&nbsp;With PILT as part of the Farm Bill, suddenly county commissioners from all over America – especially the west - were calling their Senators and Representatives demanding the passage of the Farm Bill.&nbsp;&nbsp;Thus, fiscally conservative Republicans who had demanded separate debates and votes on food stamps and crop insurance were coerced to support legislation loaded with pork.&nbsp;&nbsp;Again, this $1 trillion tax lands on our taxpaying laps, especially our children's laps.&nbsp;&nbsp;Lee expounds:</p><p>&nbsp;“This Farm Bill is a monument to every dysfunction Washington indulges to bend our politics and twist our economy to benefit itself at the expense of the American people.”&nbsp;</p><p>He added that the Farm Bill is “collusion between both parties against the American people; it benefits the special interests at the expense of the national interest.”</p><p>&nbsp;</p></div></div></div>Thu, 06 Feb 2014 23:56:58 +0000teda58256 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/boehners-and-reids-farm-bill-fraud-america#commentsWill The GOP's Short Attention Span Ruin The 2014 Midterms? http://www.freedomworks.org/content/will-gops-short-attention-span-ruin-2014-midterms
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Fearing baldness, I long ago stopped scratching my head at the public moves of the Republican hierarchy. With Obamacare crumbling like a celebrity marriage all around them, the Democrats are so desperate that they're focusing on raising the minimum wage-a "feel good" bunch of nonsense that benefits an age demographic that isn't even old enough to vote for them. But they need people to talk about <em>anything but Obamacare</em>.&nbsp;</p><p>Savvy combatants don't fall for deflections, they look around to see what it is the other side doesn't want them to see. This year, the Republicans don't even have to look around. But, like ten year old boys with ADHD, that is all they seem to want to do.&nbsp;</p><p>At the end of last year, I <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/stephenkruiser/winning-issues-2014-obamacare-school-choice%20" target="_blank">wrote that a narrow focus on Obamacare and school choice</a> would serve the GOP well going into this year's elections. Imagine my mild surprise when party quickly <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/gop-school-choice-minority-voters-102393.html" target="_blank">got around to talking about the latter</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>Proving that there is almost no reason for optimism when it comes to GOP strategy lately, the House has decided to wrap up <a href="http://schoolchoiceweek.com/" target="_blank">National School Choice Week</a> by putting the focus on...a <a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/teda/%E2%80%9Clog-rolling%E2%80%9D-the-farm-bill-more-incompetent-and-d" target="_blank">thoroughly awful farm bill</a> and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-house-immigration-reform-principles-20140130,0,5804580.story#axzz2s06xjO1v" target="_blank">the immigration reform windmill</a> at which it loves to tilt.&nbsp;</p><p>Bravo, party betters. You managed not only to get off-topic, but did so with muddy message issues that aren't election winners.&nbsp;</p><p>Let us for the moment go all WIlly Wonka and enter a world of pure imagination. Suppose that the farm bill and immigration reform weren't fraught with problems. If you need to belt down a couple of stiff drinks to get there, I'll wait.&nbsp;</p><p>Even then, there isn't a good case to be made to take the focus off of Obamacare. And school choice is the one issue where conservatives can woo minority voters through principles and action rather than political pandering.&nbsp;</p><p>If I were a full-blown conspiracy type, I would posit that it seems as if the GOP leaders are deliberately focusing on things that draw bolder battle lines between them and Tea Party conservatives, than them and the Democrats. I am, however, not ready to go there.&nbsp;</p><p>Yet.&nbsp;</p><p>There are few people outside of the RNC, NRCC and NRSC who wouldn't agree that the Republican party has had a messaging problem for quite some time. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that it hasn't had many prominent elected officials who can articulate the case for, well, anything. Thankfully, that is changing.&nbsp;</p><p>The second, and more problematic, is that it chooses positions that are esoteric and/or numbers laden, which aren't easy to explain to the electorate.&nbsp;</p><p>The current state of Obamacare and school choice both practically explain themselves. They provide a clear path to victory in November but the party hierarchy keeps wandering off to do other things because...just because.&nbsp;</p><p>The current diversion is especially maddening, given the fact that the upper echelon of the GOP was <em>just </em>whining that the government shutdown prevented them from focusing on how awful the Obamacare rollout was.&nbsp;</p><p>The good news: the Obamacare rollout is still awful. Feel free to fire up that focus any time, guys.&nbsp;</p></div></div></div>Tue, 04 Feb 2014 16:18:23 +0000StephenKruiser58248 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/will-gops-short-attention-span-ruin-2014-midterms#commentsFreedomWorks Key Vote NO on the Farm Bill Conference Report in the Senatehttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/freedomworks-key-vote-no-farm-bill-conference-report-senate
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask that they vote NO on cloture for the Farm Bill conference report, H.R. 2462. &nbsp;This final agreement reached between the House and Senate actually manages to be worse than the bills passed by each chamber separately, and does nothing to contain the hundreds of billions in spending on corporate welfare for farm corporations and an out-of-control food stamp program.</p><p>After spending several months germinating in a conference committee, the Farm Bill that has suddenly sprouted in Congress is a nearly $1 trillion debacle that renews nearly every bit of the original bill’s market-distorting crop insurance subsidies and price supports for five years.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition, Senate Republicans who vote for this bill are conceding the defeat of the one good accomplishment of last year’s contentious Farm Bill negotiations – the separation of food stamps from the main agricultural portion of the bill. Allowing food stamps to continue to be used like a giant earmark to attract the votes of urban members of Congress guarantees that the program will see no significant reforms, even as it spends over $700 billion in the next ten years.&nbsp;</p><p>A trillion dollars of corporate welfare and food stamps – and the bill will certainly exceed its spending estimates, as its predecessors have. Instead of kicking this can down the road another five unaffordable years, those who truly care about limiting government should put a stop to the Farm Bill now and insist upon actual reforms.</p><p>For these reasons, I urge you to call your senators and ask them to vote NO on cloture for the Farm Bill conference report. We will count their vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating FreedomWorks’ Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2014. The Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>Matt Kibbe</p><p>President and CEO&nbsp;</p><p>FreedomWorks</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-files field-type-file field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Files:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/KVN_2014-02-03_-_Farm_Bill_Conference_Senate_-_NO.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=297179">KVN_2014-02-03_-_Farm_Bill_Conference_Senate_-_NO.pdf</a></span></div></div></div>Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:43:20 +0000mkibbe58245 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/freedomworks-key-vote-no-farm-bill-conference-report-senate#comments“Log Rolling” the Farm Bill: More Incompetent and Deceptive Governmenthttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/%E2%80%9Clog-rolling%E2%80%9D-farm-bill-more-incompetent-and-deceptive-government
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><strong><a href="http://http;//www.freedomworks.org/democracy-and-power-113" target="_blank">Democracy and Power 113: Vote Trading</a></strong><p>“I’ll vote for your legislation, if you’ll vote for mine.”</p><p>It is <em>never</em> said in public, but the act occurs <em>constantly </em>within our government. Regularly, our leadership requests a specific legislation, and our politicians agree to the request if the leadership includes his project. &nbsp;Politicians trade votes for their respective benefit, which is seldom for the benefit of most Americans.</p><p>Political insiders call this “log rolling,” &nbsp;and the expense to the American public is enormous. This blatant taking of property incrementally reduces everyone’s wealth, security and freedom.</p><strong>“Log Rolling” the Farm Bill:&nbsp;&nbsp;More Incompetent and Deceptive Government</strong><p>Our Federal government oligarchs - Republican <em>and</em> Democrats – have “log rolled” the Farm Bill.&nbsp;&nbsp;Farmers and ranchers exchanged politically poisoning subsidies for crop insurance and food stamps for millions of Americans.&nbsp;&nbsp;Indirectly, our grocery industry benefits tremendously as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;And... our big, deceptive, incompetent government bumbles along reducing every American's wealth, security and freedom.</p><p>Obviously, a deal has been reached between Speaker of the House Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV).&nbsp;&nbsp;Similar to the corruption and other deals that bought politicians' votes for ObamaCare, our power elites have secured enough votes for the passage of the Farm Bill.&nbsp;&nbsp;This <em>macro</em> ”log-rolling deal” is about the money traded for crop insurance and the money spent on food stamps.&nbsp;&nbsp;For years, lobbyists representing rural America and big city America have given big political campaign contributions to rural-Republican politicians and big city Democrats.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So, after months of private negotiations, the lobbyists and political oligarchs have agreed to spending $1trillion over 10 years.</p><p>Americans will be taxed $1 trillion to pay for agriculture insurance and food stamps, &nbsp;which indirectly subsidizes the grocery industry.&nbsp;&nbsp;Additionally, in order to secure enough votes for its passage, Republican and Democrat leaders have made lots of small deals. &nbsp;For example, to placate Republicans seeking major reforms to food stamps there will be state demonstration work projects.&nbsp;&nbsp;Another deal keeps catfish inspections in the Agriculture Department, where the bureaucracy protects the catfish industry from foreign competition.&nbsp;&nbsp;Alas, there is a deal for almost every politician at the expense of $1 trillion to the taxpayers.</p><p>To sell this to America, the Senate and House committee chairs offered these vacuous statements, claiming bipartisan created savings and job creation:</p><p>"Today's bipartisan agreement puts us on the verge of enacting a five-year farm bill that saves taxpayers billions, eliminates unnecessary subsidies, creates a more effective farm safety-net and helps farmers and businesses create jobs," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)</p><p>"We are putting in place sound policy that is good for farmers, ranchers, consumers, and those who have hit difficult times," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK)</p><p>Hoping not to awaken Americans to this “log rolling” deal, Speaker Boehner rushed the bill through the House, where he needed and received Democrat support.&nbsp;&nbsp;Then, Sen. Harry Reid will manipulate the bill through the Senate.&nbsp;&nbsp;Quickly, President Obama will sign the legislation into law.</p><p>Again, political insiders call this “log rolling,” &nbsp;and the expense to the American public is <em>enormous</em>. &nbsp;It is a blatant taking of property, which incrementally reduces everyone’s wealth, security and freedom.</p></div></div></div>Thu, 30 Jan 2014 00:17:47 +0000teda58239 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/%E2%80%9Clog-rolling%E2%80%9D-farm-bill-more-incompetent-and-deceptive-government#commentsKey Vote NO on the Farm Bill Conference Report in the Househttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/key-vote-no-farm-bill-conference-report-house
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask that he or she vote NO on the Farm Bill conference report in the House, H.R. 2462. &nbsp;This final agreement reached between the House and Senate actually manages to be worse than the bills passed by each chamber separately, and does nothing to contain the hundreds of billions in spending on corporate welfare for farm corporations and an out-of-control food stamp program.</p><p>After spending several months germinating in a conference committee, the Farm Bill that has suddenly sprouted in Congress is a nearly $1 trillion debacle that renews nearly every bit of the original bill’s market-distorting crop insurance subsidies and price supports for five years.&nbsp;</p><p>In addition, in attempting to pass this bill, the House Republican leadership is reneging on the one good accomplishment of last year’s contentious Farm Bill negotiations – the separation of food stamps from the main agricultural portion of the bill. &nbsp;Allowing food stamps to continue to be used like a giant earmark to attract the votes of urban members of Congress guarantees that the program will see no significant reforms, even as it spends over $700 billion in the next ten years.&nbsp;</p><p>Finally, the House leadership has once again brought up a giant (this time 950-page) bill with not even two full days to read it. This is the irresponsible practice of a body concerned only with perpetuating its own profligate spending habits, and not that of a Republican majority committed to limiting government.</p><p>For these reasons, I urge you to call your representative and ask him or her to vote NO on the Farm Bill conference report. We will count their vote as a KEY VOTE when calculating FreedomWorks’ Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2014. The Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom.</p><p>Sincerely,<br><br>Matt Kibbe</p><p>President and CEO&nbsp;</p><p>FreedomWorks</p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-files field-type-file field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Files:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png" /> <a href="//d7.freedomworks.org.s3.amazonaws.com/KVN_2014-01-28_-_Farm_Bill_Conference_House_-_NO.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=298233">KVN_2014-01-28_-_Farm_Bill_Conference_House_-_NO.pdf</a></span></div></div></div>Tue, 28 Jan 2014 19:13:39 +0000mkibbe58231 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/key-vote-no-farm-bill-conference-report-house#commentsCapitol Hill Update, 27 Jan., 2014http://www.freedomworks.org/content/capitol-hill-update-27-jan-2014
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><strong>Capitol Hill Update, 27 January, 2014</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>House &amp; Senate/Schedule:</strong> Both chambers are in session this week. &nbsp;The House will only be in town through Wednesday, while the Senate will be in town continuously through Presidents’ Day (Feb 17th).</p><p><strong>State of the Union Address: </strong>On Tuesday evening, President Obama will give the annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. &nbsp;He is expected to focus on his divisive message of income inequality, and to declare his intent to make law through executive order if Congress does not act. FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe will deliver a “pre-buttal” to the President at 8:45 on <a href="https://live.freedomworks.org/">live.freedomworks.org</a>, and afterwards you can watch the SOTU streaming online and join us on our live chat room.</p><p><strong>House/Farm Bill: </strong>The Farm Bill has been trapped in conference as House and Senate members hashed out their differing version of the bill. &nbsp;It is possible that the conference could report a bill and that it could receive a final vote in the House as soon as this Wednesday. Reports are that there will be almost nothing in the way of reforms to the Farm Bill, and that it will be a five-year extension. The food stamps and corporate welfare subsidies contained in this bill will cost over a trillion dollars over ten years. &nbsp;FreedomWorks will oppose the bill.</p><p><strong>House/ObamaCare:</strong> The House Committee on Ways and Means will be holding a <a href="http://waysandmeans.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=367349">hearing</a> at 10 AM on Tuesday, January 28th on how ObamaCare’s 30-hour rule and employer mandates are hurting businesses and reducing job creation. Because ObamaCare fines businesses who have over 50 employees working more than 30 hours per week, many businesses are cutting employee hours (or just employees) in order to avoid the fines.</p><p><strong>Senate/Flood Insurance: </strong>The Senate will finally consider their bill to delay reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), <a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.113s1926">S. 1926</a>. &nbsp;Under a bill passed in 2012, flood insurance premiums were scheduled to be adjusted according to redrawn floodplain maps, so that homeowners in high-risk flood areas would have to pay higher premiums (as would be the case if the insurance policies were being offered in a free market). &nbsp;This bill would delay these reforms, which will put taxpayers on the hook for a much larger amount when these high-risk areas inevitably flood again. &nbsp;NFIP is already $20 billion in debt to taxpayers, and will incur tens of billions more in debt if it is not seriously reformed.</p></div></div></div>Tue, 28 Jan 2014 14:43:47 +0000jwithrow58228 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/capitol-hill-update-27-jan-2014#commentsFreedomCast - 40,000 New Regulations, The Farm Bill, and Extending Unemployment Benefits Once Again http://www.freedomworks.org/content/freedomcast-40000-new-regulations-farm-bill-and-extending-unemployment-benefits-once-again-0
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>On today’s edition of the FreedomCast, Michelle Ray joins me to discuss some of the 40,000 new regulations taking effect in 2014, the trillion dollar Farm Bill and the new proposed IRS regulations designed to silence your engagement in the political process.</p>
<p><strong>Related Links:</strong></p>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/jborowski/proposed-irs-rules-would-stifle-free-speech">Proposed IRS Rules Would Stifle Free Speech</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=IRS-2013-0038-0001">Take Action: Let the IRS know you won't be silenced</a></li>
<li><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/01/tea-party-groups-awaken-from-holiday-slumber-to-fight-irs-rules/">Tea Party Groups Awake from Holiday Slumber to Fight IRS Rules</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/03/happy-new-year-feds-list-141-new-regulations-in-only-3-days/">Happy New Year! Here's just a few of the new regulations for 2014</a></li>
</ul><p>Have a suggestion for an upcoming FreedomCast episode, or a comment? Send it to me on twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/kristinaribali">@KristinaRibali</a>.</p>
<p>Subscribe to The FreedomCast on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/thefreedomcast/id593029203?mt=2">here</a>.</p>
<p>Follow <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Freedomworks">FreedomWorks</a> on twitter and on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/freedomworks">Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>Follow today's guest <a href="http://www.twitter.com/galtsgirl">@galtsgirl</a> on twitter.</p>
<p>Our podcast is fabulously produced by <a href="http://www.twitter.com/bradwjackson">@BradWJackson</a>.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-fw-core-issues field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">FW Core Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/issue/red-tape-hidden-taxes-regulation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Red Tape, Hidden Taxes &amp; Regulation</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/issue/workplace-freedom" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Workplace Freedom</a></div></div></div>Tue, 07 Jan 2014 17:12:11 +0000Kristina Ribali59222 at http://www.freedomworks.orghttp://www.freedomworks.org/content/freedomcast-40000-new-regulations-farm-bill-and-extending-unemployment-benefits-once-again-0#comments